In their own words.
Tell us about Wispr.
About three years ago, Sahaj and I were talking about the most important problems in the world that nobody else was working on. A big one we kept coming back to was that technology has grown leaps and bounds in the last 15 years but the phones we use have stayed the same. In a world being driven more and more by AI, what should human–computer interfaces really look like? That got us to Wispr, where we're building consumer electronics for the next generation of technology.
What's an example of MVP's business-development help?
We were looking to work with enterprises that had manufacturing facilities and factories. I described this to Gray. He created a document the next day of 10 companies he could put us in touch with — General Motors, Koch Industries, Toyota, Pepsi, Tesla, and more. He delivered on that. We picked seven of them, and he put me in touch with all seven within the following week. I have not seen that level of thoroughness and responsiveness from most other firms — even from friends.
How has MVP helped on hiring?
Cecilia joined the team earlier this year and is absolutely wonderful. She's been really helpful in putting together hiring plans and thinking through. We were recently looking for a head of talent, and she spent time with me to put together the scorecard, introduced me to three other folks who'd built talent organizations of 10,000 to 100,000 people before — for them to help guide us through it — and also sent three candidates, all three of which are in the final stages of the interview process. So she's been incredible both in sourcing and structuring the process.
What stands out about MVP overall?
MVP makes you feel really important. Whenever you reach out, you feel like you're their highest priority, and all of their resources are devoted to you. Be it within investor introductions or everything else — the level of responsiveness, the level of just making us feel like they're on our side and we're building this together, makes them stand out compared to pretty much most experiences my friends have had with other firms.
Would you recommend MVP?
Absolutely incredible team. You will have to do a lot of business development work, and they're going to be there with you on every part of the journey — making those introductions, setting up those calls. They have incredible networks, what you'd expect from any tier-one firm — which I think is what's unique about them. They support you through thick and thin. Not just your fair-weather friends. I'd recommend any fund? It's going to be them. They beat them by a mile. 100%. I always want to work with them whatever I'm doing.